Saka Sirhind
MATA GUJREE JEE AND THE YOUNGER SAAHIBZAADAS
At the bank of river Sirsa, a fierce battle between the Singhs and the Mughals started. Bhai Uday Singh and Bhai Bachitter Singh jee were leading their regiments against the Mughals, while rest of the singhs were trying to cross the river. River Sirsa was flooded at that time. Many drowned in the river.
MATA JEE AND SAHIBZAADAY GET SEPARATED FROM PITA GURU JEE
It is heartbreaking that the younger Saahibzaadas Baba Zoravaar Singh jee and Baba Fateh Singh jee got separated from their father. It is hard to imagine how they got separated. They got separated in such a way that there was no other singh with them. Just Mata jee and her grandchildren alone got separated from rest of the singhs.
Mata jee had a donkey on which she had some clothes loaded. She had the Saahibzaadas seated on the donkey, while she was walking along with them. Imagine the cold weather and two small Saahibzaadas aged 6 years and 8 years were walking in this cold, separated from their father and singhs. The imperial army was trying to find them and it seemed like every leaf at that time had become their enemy.
As they were walking, they bumped into Gangu Brahmin. Gangu Brahmin used to live at Siri Anandpur Sahib and possibly had become a Sikh of Siri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib jee. He recognized Mata Gujri jee and Mata jee recognized him. He understood immediately that they had been separated from their family
SAAHIBZAADAS IN THE HUT OF KARMA JHEEVAR
Karma Jheevar was a boatman who lived on the bank of Sirsa. He had been converted to Islam by force. He never accepted Islam from heart. When he saw The saahibzaadas coming he requested them to spend the night at his hut. Mata jee and the Saahibzaadas accepted their offer.
They stayed at his hut that night. A small lamp was on in the hut. Mata jee and Brahmgiyaani Saahibzaadas were sitting their cross legged, on the floor. When Karma Jheevar entered the door and saw this scene from Sachkhand, he fell at their feet. He had tears in his eyes and so much water came out of his eyes that it seemed that he would wash their feet with his tears.
AN ERROR BY SOME HISTORIANS
Some historians have written that in the hut of Karma Jheevar, Mata jee did not eat from the hands of Karma Jheevar as he was a low caste person and a Muslim. They write that at this Karma Jheevar went to a nearby village and got Lakshmi Brahmini to cook food for the Saahibzaadas and Mata jee.
This is so absurd. This must have been added by a Brahmin minded person. Why would Mata jee refuse Karma’s food and accept Lakshmi Brahmini’s food? Can we believe this? What is so special about Brahimins that Mata jee would have accepted their food. Did Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee Maharaaj not refuse food of the high caste Malik Bhago and accepted food of his poor Sikh Laalo?
The reality is that Mata jee and the Saahibzaadas would have eaten food cooked by themselves and would have accepted raw materials like grains and flour from Karma Jheevar.
SAAHIBZAADAS IN GANGU’S HOUSE
After a day’s stay at Karma Jheeva’s house, Mata jee and the Saahibzaadas moved on to village SaheRi, the village of Gangu Brahmin. Before leaving Mata jee tried to give Karma Jheevar some money but Karma with tears in his eyes refused any money. He begged Mata jee to help him in the next world. Mata jee did kirpa on him and moved on.
They reached village Saheri and by now Gangu Brahmin found out that Mata jee had a bag full of gold coins. He got greedy and stole the gold coins. He did not stop here. He decided to report to the police about the whereabouts of Mata jee and the Saahibzaadas to get more money from the government. His greed knew no bounds.
Gangu reported the matter to Jaani Khan and Maani Khan who immediately came to Saheri with their army and arrested the innocent Saahibzaadas. The Saahibzaadas and Mata jee were taken to Sirhind in the court of Vazeer Khan, the governor of Sirhind.
GANGU BRAHMIN GETS PUNISHED
At first Vazeer Khan praised Gangu Brahmin for ratting out the Saahibzaadas of Siri Guru jee. He thought of giving Gangu a hefty amount in appreciation of his good work. As he was thinking of doing this, an officer told Vazeer Khan that Gangu Brahmin had looted very precious jewels and diamonds from Mata jee.
Vazeer Khan immediately asked Gangu Brahmin for the looted jewels. Gangu totally refused to admit that he had anything to do with any jewels. Vazeer Khan got mad at him and ordered him arrested. He instructed his officers to use whatever means to get Gangu to disclose the location of the jewels.
Gangu was severely beaten and tortured in the jail. After many days of torture and beatings, he died in the custody of Vazeer Khan.
SAAHIBZAADAS FIRST APPEARANCE IN THE COURT OF VAZEER KHAN
Vazeer Khan was very happy to arrest the Saahibzaadas. He was expecting to convert them to Islam and please the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and other officers in Delhi. All the time they were kept in the custody of Vazeer Khan, they were not fed anything. They were kept hungry. For three days of they stayed in the custody of Vazeer Khan, they were not given anything to eat. They stayed hungry for three days.
Vazeer Khan and his officials like Sucha Nand who was from the family of Chandu tried their best to influence the Saahibzaadas to convert to Islam. For this reason, he behaved very nicely with the Saahibzaadas, when they first arrived in the court of Vazeer Khan.
The contemporaries of Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee write that the Saahibzaadas were wearing Blue Cholaas and White pajaamees. They looked extremely beautiful. When they were made to appear in the court of Vazeer Khan they had handcuffs in their hands and legs. The Saahibzaadas were in pure chardi kala (high spirits). Their faces were shining with Naam. So beautiful their faces were that even the most cruel officers were treating them nicely. When they entered the court of Vazeer Khan, they stunned everyone by saying “Vaheguru jee ka Khalsa Vaheguru jee kee fateh” in a very loud voice.
Vazeer Khan got very angry but he controlled his anger as he was trying to bribe them with love. He ordered the soldiers to remove their handcuffs and in a very loving manner asked them to accept Islam. They said that if they accepted Islam, he would give them a lot of gifts and money. He also tried to bribe them by promising them match of beautiful Muslim girls, if they accepted Islam.
Vazeer Khan did not know that he was dealing with Brahmgiyaanis. Saahibzaadas had been doing paath and simran all the time. Mata jee had filled them with the stories of their grandfather Siri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib jee and Siri Guru Arjun Dev Sahib jee.
The Saahibzaadas refused to accept their offer and angrily Vazeer Khan sent them to the cold tower (Thanda Buraj).
NEXT DAY IN THE COURT
Next day too the Sahibzaadas made appearance in the court with a loud fateh. This time Vazeer Khan threatened them with dire consequences if they did not obey his order of changing their faith. Vazeer Khan told them that they had killed their father and all the singhs had been killed. The Saahibzaadas did not lose faith or get scared. They got full of Bir Rass at this and still refused to change their faith.
The kaazi (Muslim judge) after much deliberation declared that according to Koran and the Sharia, he was unable to punish or sentence the Saahibzaadas. He said that the Muslim law did not allow it.
The Kaazi declared that the Saahibzaadas be released. Sucha Nand who was watching all this could not tolerate that the Saahibzaadas were going to get released.
Mohammad Latif covers this conversation very beautifully as follows:
The Nawab (Vazeer Khan) said, “Boys! What would you do, if we were to give you your liberty?
“We would collect our Sikhs, supply them with implements of war, fight with you and put you to death”.
“If you were defeated in the fight, what would you do then?
“We would collect our armies again and either kill you or be killed”.
At this time Sucha Nand facing Vazeer Khan said, “Listen to me O King. As per the famous poet Firdausi, it is not wise to kill the snake but feed the children of snake. Realize that wolf’s sons are wolves”.
Vazeer Khan now started thinking what to do with the kids.
NAWAB SHER MOHAMMAD OF MALERKOTLA REFUSES TO KILL THE SAAHIBZAADAS
Sher Khan the nawab of Malerkotla had his brother killed by Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee. Vazeer Khan offered Sher Khan to take custody of the Saahibzaadas to avenge the death of his brother.
Sher Khan who was a real warrior refused to kill the Saahibzaadas and advised Vazeer Khan to release them. He said the his enmity is with Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee Maharaaj and that he would avenge his brother’s death only from Siri Guru jee.
VAZEER KHAN’S WIFE – ZAIBULNISSA
Zaibulnissa was the daughter of a servant of king of Bilaaspur. She was married off to Sirhind. Somehow, Vazeer Khan found out about her extreme beauty. He kidnapped her on the night of her marriage and married her instead. He converted her to Islam and named her Zaibulnissa.
When she found out that Vazeer Khan had arrested the Saahibzaadas, she got very upset with her husband. She begged him to release the Saahibzaadas and it is said that he had made up his mind to release the Saahibzaadas but Sucha Nand convinced him not to do so.
ANOTHER TEST FOR THE SAAHIBZAADAS
Sensing that Vazeer Khan was getting more inclined towards releasing the Saahibzaadas, Diwan Sucha Nand devised a plan to convince Vazeer Khan to kill the Saahibzaadas. He asked Vazeer Khan to test the Saahibzaadas if they would really become warriors and rebels when they grow up.
Just outside the court, they quickly constructed three stalls (shops). The first stall was full of toys, the second one was full of sweets and candies and the third stall had weapons of different kind. Vazeer Khan and his officials secretly watched as the Saahibzaadas were released close to the three stalls. They wanted to see which stall they would head to. In their minds they thought that if the Saahibzaadas go to the first two stalls and start playing with toys or start eating candies, then they are potentially no danger to the government but if they go to the third stall and take out the weapons there, then they can be a danger to the government in the future to come.
No one in the court of Vazeer Khan expected little kids to go beyond candies and toys. Anyway, the Saahibzaadas got released and as they walked out, they saw three stalls. They looked at the first one with toys but showed no interest in it. The officials were sure that the Saahibzaadas who had not eaten anything for days would surely succumb to hunger and go to the second stall and start eating candies. But Dhan are the Saahibzaadas! They did not care about food or toys. When they saw the third stall that had beautiful Sarblohi weapons, their faces lightened up.
Baba Zoravaar Singh jee quickly moved forward and grabbed a spear while Baba Fateh Singh jee grabbed another weapon from there. They started doing gatka and other paintraas with the weapons. The officials there were amazed to see the swiftness with which they handled the weapons. As soon as the officials saw this, they ordered them arrested again. The Saahibzaadas were arrested and presented in front of the court again.
SAAHIBZAADAS GET DEATH SENTENCE
Vazeer Khan put pressure on the Kaazi to sentence them some way or the other. The Kaazi manipulated the Sharia law and sentenced them to be bricked alive. Getting bricked alive essentially means to be buried alive.
Hundreds and thousands of residents of Sirhind had gathered outside the court to watch the court proceedings. We should realize that Sirhind due to the Naqshbandi influence was the centre of fanatic Islam in those days. The second leader of the Naqshbandi sect of Islam was Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi and he was from Sirhind. He was instrumental in getting Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee Shaheed. One of his followers Murtaza Khan carried out the sentence against Siri Guru jee.
Many fanatic Muslims present there, cheered the sentence but Hindus and many Muslims were shocked to hear the sentence. A group of sympathisers approached Vazeer Khan and offered to pay gold equal to the weight of the Saahibzaadas to get them released. Sucha Nand and Vazeer Khan did not agree to this request.
Everyone in Sirhind was shocked. People did not feel like cooking food in their houses. Many families did not cook food and remained hungry that day. Even the ones who did not know who Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee was, fell in love with the Saahibzaadas when they saw them. Who would not fall in love with them just by looking at them? They were so beautiful and sweet. On top of their natural beauty, they were full of Naam and Gurbani Paath. The shine on their faces was unbearable to the beholders.
After hearing the death sentence the Saahibzaadas expressed no fear or sorrow. They stayed in pure chardi kala (high spirits).
THE THIRD DAY – THE SHAHIDI DAY
There was a widespread resentment against Vazeer Khan’s decision to martyr the Saahibzaadas. The most faithful officials got upset with this decision. Many Muslims requested them to reconsider the decision to martyr them.
The jallaads (ones who carry out the death sentence) refused to martyr the saahibzaadas. The government was having hard time finding anyone who would physically do the dirty work. The next day i.e. the third day, the imperial butchers from Delhi were incidentally present in Sirhind. Their names were Mishaal Begh and Vishaal Begh. These cruel jallaads agreed to carry out the sentence of bricking the Saahibzaadas alive.
Before the sentence was carried out, the Saahibzaadas were again presented in the court and asked to reconsider their decision to not accept Islam. The Saahibzaadas were full of self-respect and Sikhi. They refused to even answer Vazeer Khan’s question. Vazeer Khan got very upset at this. This event is covered in a old text “Katha Gur Sootan kee” as follows:
TABAI DUSHT AISE FUNN KAHAI||
MASTAK SANMUKH TEKO AHAI||
(The evil officials ordered the Saahibzaadas to look straight with their heads bowed when answering Vazeer Khan and other officials)
NA JAB MASTAK SANMUKH TEKEH||
SEES ULAT MURR PAACHHAI PEKHEH||
(The Saahibzaadas refused to bow their heads or look straight. They would start looking in the opposite direction when they were asked questions. They showed open defiance to the officials)
BAHORO KAHEE DUSHT VEH BANI||
DEKHO BALAK YEH ABHIMAANI||
(Seeing this the Dusht i.e. evil Vazeer Khan said to his officials that look how proud these little boys are)
BURNING THEIR HANDS WITH HOT RODS
It is written in some historical books that Vazeer Khan got very upset at the open defiance shown by the Saahibzaadas. He thought of trying to break them by threatening them and using force. He ordered two red hot iron rods. He moved forward and forced their hands to hold the red hot rods. The Saahibzaadas held the rods but did not cry or express pain. They stayed adamant and their faces did not show any reduction of Chardi Kala. Their faces kept shining. They started doing paath loudly. The hand of the Saahibzaadas got burned but they stayed in chardi kala.
The people present there could not control their tears. Some people started crying loudly. Even some officials had tears in their eyes but they were scared of Diwan Sucha Nand and Vazeer Khan. Such was the bhaana of Vaheguru. Who knows what the history of Sikhs and Punjab would have been, if the Saahibzaadas had been released.
SAAHIBZAADAS ATTAIN SHAHEEDI
The Saahibzaadas were handed over to the jallaads Mishaal Begh and Vishaal Begh. Outside the court, he made them stand and started constructing a wall around them. With every brick being cemented Vazeer Khan tried to falter them from their Dharam.
Vazeer Khan promised them that he would arrange for a meeting between them and Aurangzeb and get them kingdom of some area in India. He again spoke of marrying them off to the beautiful Muslim girls.
The Saahibzaadas got upset at the repeated cajoling from Vazeer Khan and gave him a stern reply. They told him frankly that he was ignorant of the tradition of Guru Nanak Dev jee’s house. They said that they won’t even like to spit on kingdoms and other pleasures being offered to them. After this they refused to answer any question of Vazeer Khan and indulged themselves in Naam and Baani.
Baba Zoravaar Singh jee said to Baba Fateh Singh jee:
DASS PAATSHAAHI HOVAI HAAN||
(Ten Paatshaahees i.e. all 10 Guru Sahibaan are standing beside them and watching them)
Occasionally they talked about their grandfather Siri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib jee and their great great grandfather Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee. Giani Gyaan Singh jee has written that when the walls reached their neck level, all of sudden the wall fell down.
Many spectators considered this a sign from Vaheguru to stop this barbarous act but stonehearted Vazeer Khan did not understand.
The walls around them were reconstructed and they were bricked alive. Throughout this process, the Saahibzaadas stayed in pure chardi kala. They stayed merged in Naam.
Some historians have written that when the wall fell down, Vazeer Khan took out his sword and severed their heads from their bodies. Whatever way they were martyred is irrelevant. The relevant thing is that the Saahibzaadas gave their lives and endured torture but did not give up their faith.
At the time of their shaheedi (martyrdom) Baba Zoravaar Singh jee was 7 years, 11 months and 8 days old whereas Baba Fateh Singh jee was 5 years, 10 months and 10 days old. Khalsa jeeo, just look around and look at the kids of this age. Kids don’t even know Gurmukhi at this age. All they know is TV programs, video games and other kid stuff. Look at the beloved Saahibzaadas of Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee! They were not ordinary human beings. They were pure Brahmgiyaanis.
ZAIBULNISSA CONFRONTS VAZEER KHAN
When Vazeer Khan returned home, he was feeling very unsatisfied. The Saahibzaadas had defied him and even death was unable to shake their faith. His beloved wife Zaibulnissa had caught one glimpse of the Saahibzaadas and had fell in love with them. She had pleaded with her husband to release them and he had agreed to do so too but changed his mind later on.
When Vazeer Khan came to his residence, his wife Zaibulnissa confronted him and made him realize that what he had done was the greatest sin ever done in history. She came to her chambers and when she heard how their hands had been burned with red hot rods and how they were bricked alive, she fainted. She could not come to terms with the tragedy. She took out a knife and stabbed herself and died.
THE AFTERMATH
The whole of Sirhind was shocked. This tragedy sent shock waves in the streets of Sirhind. People came out of their houses and many were openly crying. People openly talked about rebelling against the cruel rule of Mughals.
The Sikhs across the world were shocked. Baba Banda Singh jee Bahadur was particularly shocked with this and when he became a Sikh of Guru Sahib, he took up this mission to punish Vazeer Khan and his officials.
Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee plucked a plant of kaahee when he heard this news in the jungles of Maachheevaara and declared that the root of the Mughal empire had been uprooted. From that day, the Mughal empire went down and down.
HOW A PARROT SPREAD THIS NEWS
On a nearby tree a parrot was sitting on one of it’s branches. Under the tree Sher Mohammad the Nawab of Malerkotla was standing and people were watching the shaheedi of the Saahibzaadas with dismay. When the Saahibzaadas attained shaheedi, Sher Mohammad cried out loud and said, “OYE MUGHLO TUHAADI JARR PUTTEE GAYEE”.
The parrot sitting on the tree was so much affected by the pain in the scream of Sher Mohammad, that he started repeating “OYE MUGHLO TUHAADI JARR PUTTEE GAYEE” meaning “O Mughals, your root of kingdom has been uprooted”.
The soldiers tried to catch the parrot but could not. The parrot went village to village and town to town and cried out that the root of the Mughals had been uprooted. Many villages found out about the shaheedi from the parrot.
Khalsa jeeo, we have to learn from these shaheedis. We should not get lax in keeping rehit and Sikhi.
Daas,
Kulbir Singh